Trencher



June 10, 1947.

Y. S. PENOTE TRENCHER Filed March 7, 1945 mms/ron. V/Nce/vr J. PE-lvon-F nu wir! Patented June 10,1947 l Vincent S. Penote.

The Cleveland Tren Cleveland, Ohio, signor to her Company, Cleveland,

Ohio. a corporation of Ohio Application March '1, 1945, Serial No.581,461

The present invention relates to an excavating machine and particularlyto an excavating machine of the type in which a wheel provided withexcavating buckets is used for digging trenches and the like. Theinvention is particularly con.- cerned with improvements in the machineto increase its capacity. This, therefore, is the general object of thepresent invention.

Excavating machines of the type with which this invention is concerned,generally comprise a vehicular frame which supports an engine andvarious driving mechanism. frame a mast is provided which carries asupport on which is mounted-an excavating wheel, the arrangement beingsuch that the wheel voverhangs the frame of the machine. In the past,considerable attention has been given to the excavating wheels to obtainrigidity of the structure, and at the same time reduce the weight of thewheel to a minimum. An object of the present invention is to increasethe dirt-carrying capacity of the excavating wheel without sacrificingthe advantages of rigidity and lightness in Weight.

Other objects of the invention will become more apparent from thefollowing description, reference being had to a preferred embodiment ofthe invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawings. The essentialfeatures of the invention will be summarized in the claims.A

In the drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation of an excavating machineembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section taken throughthe excavating wheel as indicated by the line 2-2 on Fig. 1; and Fig. 3is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating a modifiedarrangement.

The excavating machine as illustrated in Fig. i comprises, in general, amain framev I mounted on a pair of tractor belts, one of which is shownat II. These belts are driven by a motor I2 which is supported at theforward end of the frame. At the rear of the frame there is provided anupwardly extending guideway I5. slidably mounted in which is a supportfor a carriage I6. Pivoted, as at Il, to the carriage is an outwardlyextending boom or digging wheei'frame I8.

The support or digging wheel frame I8 is raised,

lowered and swung about its pivot I1 by cables and 2I. The cable 20serves to raise and lower the carriage I6, thus controlling the positionof the inner end 'of the frame, and the cable 2I controls the outer endof the frame. The cables are operated by winding drums, indicated at 22,and which are driven by the motor I2.

.At one end of the 4 2 A digging wheel II is rotatably supported by theframe I8 and comprises a pair of spaced rings 25 which are securedtogether by a series of U-shaped digging buckets 25. The wheelissupported by a plurality oi rollers, two of which are shown at Fig. 1 at21 as engaging the inner flanges of the inner edges of the rings 2l.

One of the rollers 21 is carried by the support I8 and the other bybracing 28 which is secured to said support. The digging wheel isrotated by the motor I2 through a suitable transmission unit SII, drivechain II, which drives a sprocket 32 secured to a shaft 23. Also securedto the shaft 33 are a pair of sprockets, one of which is shown at 34 asengaging pins or teeth-like formations 35 carried by the digging wheelrings 25.

The arrangement is such that the digging wheel I9 may be lowered to theposition indicated by the dot and dash lines of Fig. 1 and rotated inthe direction of the arrow for excavating purposes. Dirt or othermaterial is excavated and gathered by the buckets 38, which carry suchmaterial upward to the top of the wheel where it falls by gravity onto abelt conveyor Il. This conveyor is supported by and extends transverselyof the support It, and is driven from the shaft 3.3 by va suitabledriving mechanism. generally indicated at 31.

The excavating buckets v28, as shown in IFig. 2, comprise U-shapedmembers of the legs 4I of which abut the periphery of respective rings25 of the digging wheel I8, so that the inner walls 42 thereof formsubstantially continuations of the inner faces of the respective diggingwheel rings 25. The walls of the buckets are tapered slightly so as tofacilitate the gravitational movement of the contents thereof as eachbucket reaches the upper reach of its path during the movement of thewheel.

To increase the capacity of each digging bucket, I have provided astationary arc-plate or channel. This plate or channel is shown at 4'5in Fis.

Vof the wheel supportl sitioned at the forward end of the digging wheel2, arranged so that its legs 46 form continua? tions of the inner facesof respective diggins wheel rings 25. The channel 45 is secured to thebraces 28 heretofore described as being part I8. The channel 45 is Doandextends for substantially a quarter of the circumferential distance ofthe wheel, the arrangement being such that it forms an inner wall forthe buckets throughout substantially the entire upward travel thereof.Preferably, the channel 45 extends over about a quadrant of the wheeland coacts simultaneously with a plurality of t 3 buckets. The materialwhich is excavated and gathered by the buckets extends into the channel45 and is carried upward by bucket backs 50. 'I'hese may comprise aplate such as shown at 50A in Fig. 2 and suitable tine-like extensions50B, or the plate itself may be extended as indicated by the line 50C inFig. 3.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have materiallyincreased the amount of material which may be handled by the buckets,whereas the actual size of the excavating buckets remains comparativelysmall. The capacity being controlled is the distance from the outer faceof the bucket to the inner face of the channel plate 50. It willlikewise be noted that the walls of the channel plate are tapered tofacilitate movement of dug material therethrough.

I claim:

1. In an excavator, a support, an excavating wheel rotatably mounted onsaid support and comprising spaced annular rings, a series of excavatingbuckets connecting said rings and extending outward therefrom, a channelmember carried by said support within the wheel and having its legsforming inward extensions of the rings.

2. In an excavator, a support, an excavating wheel rotatably mounted onsaid support and comprising spaced annular rings, a series of excavatingbuckets secured to and bridging said rings and radially outwardtherefrom, an elongated artions of said rings.

3. In an excavator, a support, an excavating wheel rotatably mounted onsaid support and comprising a pair of spaced annular rings, a series oflpaced excavating buckets comprising U- shaped members having the legsthereof secured to the respective rings and extending radially outwardtherefrom with the open portion of the the periphery of the wheel, achannel nel to move dirt therealong.

4. In an excavator, a s upport carried thereby,

5. In an excavating machine, a support, an excavating wheel mountedthereon, said wheel comand extending therethrough.

VINCENT S. PENOTE.

